Sunday, May 6, 2012

Inter 4, Milan 2: The Agony of Defeat

Some
games are hard to sit down and write about. This one was nearly impossible. My
other half is watching the streams of his team celebrating their Scudetto win, and I am just trying not to feel bitter about a season riddled with
injuries and misfortune. But I will say that this game was like our season in
90 minutes: some hanging question marks about Allegri’s choice of available
players, big mistakes by Bonera and others, and injuries, the true theme of this
season. Galliani has said that our merchandising revenue increased this year,
and that is good, because we’ll need every penny and then some to cover all of
the extra medical care. But at the end of the day, this derby loss was a bitter
pill to swallow after a season that felt like fate was out to get us. Today, I
feel the agony of defeat like a wrecking ball through my heart.

Ibra demonstrating that the Collars of Doom™ are actually wings to help you fly.

But
let’s start with just today, we’ll have all summer to reflect on the season. I Biscioni should never win against us,
NEVER. Especially with a caretaker coach, their 3rd coach of the year. I eventually
recovered from Ranieri’s win over us, because winning derbies is his thing,
trophies not so much. But this Stramaccioni fellow did not get the memo that
Inter are not meant to win, this year especially. And now he’s kept their hopes
of Champions League play alive for next year. Don’t encourage Moratti like
that.

So
from the first minute, Bonera’s season had clearly come full circle, as he hit
the ground running by chalking up the mistakes. He had those huge games against
Barca and around that time, and I finally believed he was a professional
footballer. But now I see that he was just lucky. He’s actually that player
that makes all of the mistakes. So then a bad foul on Sneijder in the 13th was
actually what gave Inter the free kick for the first goal. Not only that, but
after Sneijder sent the free kick in to Samuel, he sent it over to Milito, who
was unmarked because Bonera, (as well as anyone
else in a red and black jersey) left him completely unmarked. Milito goal, 1-0 Inter.

Yepes demonstrating how to stop Milito (too late)

But
I digress. There were a few shots back and forth, including Ibra’s shot in the
12th minute that he Robinhoed™ into the stands. In the 17th, an Inter staff
member grabbed a ball that went out of bounds and wouldn’t give it to Robinho,
who clearly wanted to throw it in quickly. Robinho tried to wrestle the ball
away, and when he finally got it, the Inter staff member shoved him in the
back. No one has ever accused Inter of being classy.

In
the 20th, there was another Inter goal kicked in by Lucio, but it was
disallowed for offside, and that was spot on. Of course, in that scramble,
Bonera injured himself, which was a blessing in a way, as he no longer could be
blamed for our mistakes. But it forced and Allegri sub in the 21st, when 19 year-old
right back De Sciglio came on to play left back in his place.

Abbiati took another one for the team. Big man, big saves, a lot of love for him.

A
few more shots, and another big question mark in the 33rd. Abbiati made a big
save… or did he? Replays show that the ball probably crossed the line
completely and should have been another Inter goal. This kind of controversy is certainly no stranger to us this season. Shortly after that, Abbiati had to be subbed off
for Amelia due to an apparent knee injury. So 2 subs and 2 fresh injuries by
the 34th minute. Ouch.

More
controversy in the 42nd as Julio Cesar tried to stop Boateng as he was running
in on goal. Rizzoli gave us the penalty, but replays show that Cesar got the ball
first, the penalty was kind of harsh. So with a yellow card in hand, Cesar
walked up to the spot to taunt his former teammate Ibra before he took the
penalty, and after Ibra easily put it in the back corner of the net, Ibra did
his own taunting back. I’m guessing that felt pretty good. 1-1 in the 44th,
even if it was a bit questionable. Then in first half stoppage time, it wouldn’t be a derby
without the testing of the nerves and a double yellow card awarding, with
Cambiasso and Nocerino each receiving one for their efforts.

Ibra still scored, and he's still taller than you, too, Cesar.

It
looked like we came to play in the 2nd half with Ibra scoring a beauty in the
1st minute, 2-1 Milan. But then things spiraled back to our normal bad luck and
mistakes. Nocerino, who is apparently made of titanium, took another knock in the
47th, a dirty little flick from Cambiasso. Sneijder forced Amelia into a great
save in the 50th, and in the 51st, Inter wanted another penalty, with Samuel going
down in the box. But they had to wait another minute until Abate made his Big Derby Blunder™ by pulling down Milito. Yellow card for Abate,
penalty for Milito, 2-2 .

More missed
chances, more missed communication, and another card for the home team, this time
Alvarez in the 55th. DeSciglio, playing out of position, had a nice tackle on
Zanetti a minute later, and Boateng had a shot blocked and a cross headed wide
by Yepes. In the 68th, Robinho Robinhoed™ a great chance. In the 70th, Abate
had a decent shot with plenty of power on it, just too close to Cesar, who easily grabbed it. Amelia
saved two in a row from Sneijder, then van Bommel earned his token yellow card in
the 76th.

At least he didn't try to ride an opponent this time.

Finally,
Cassano came on for Muntari (also injured) in the 77th. Muntari was whistled
off by the Inter home crowd, and he proudly dusted off the Milan badge on his
jersey, good for him. Then another heartbreak when Nesta got called for handling
the ball in the 79th, which gave Milito a penalty, which he converted for a hat
trick in the 80th. 3-2 Inter. (Is it really a hat trick if two of them were penalties?) De Sciglio got a special Derby welcome from
Pazzini in the 84th when Pazzini stepped on him. But it was in the 88th that Milan souls were crushed and
people began questioning their will to live. Maicon scored a screamer out of
nowhere, a goal too beautiful to be scored in that jersey. 4-2 Inter. He was
given a yellow in the subsequent celebrations, but I was too bleary eyed from
crying by that point, and couldn’t really tell you what went down if anything
after that.

Schoolyard taunting just works better when you actually win.

It
wouldn’t hurt so bad if this was all our missed chances. But we had enough
injuries to not even have a pseudo left back to start the game, and all of
Allegri’s subs were forced by injuries. We didn’t play that well, but we also
didn’t play poorly enough to reflect the scoreline. Just like our season, we
did everything we could with what we had, and still came up short. I can’t say
well done, Inter, I just can’t. I’m usually sporting, but there is one team
that leaves me bereft of all sportsmanship and Inter is the one.

I
will say congratulations to Juventus on earning their 30th Scudetto today. When
you consider that they are still undefeated and have only conceded 19 goals all
season, it is truly incredible. (the current record is 24 goals conceded.) I
will still ban any Juventino that crosses the line here, and I will have a hard
time washing the bitter taste of their acrimony and harassment of us this
season, particularly after watching some of them talk more about us during our game, and not at all in a flattering light. Someone said that they are the new Inter, but they’ve still got a ways
to go to reach that level, because unlike Inter, Juve earn their Scudetti on the
pitch. But the only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner, what would Del Piero think of these people who call themselves fans? Agony, indeed.

His successive title run is over, he deserved morethan just the Capocannoniere.

Inter's history is why this defeat is so agonizing. We should have won this game. For bragging
rights, or even just to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror. Let alone the fact that it was our last hope at repeating the league title this season. But it’s
done and it’s over, and I know that we left our hearts out there on that pitch (although many of them were already in the ICU or otherwise injured.) And our own
miracles, Cassano and Gattuso are back with us. If all goes well, they’ll help
us lift a 19th Scudetto next season, maybe do big things in the Champions
League, and above all sweep the derby again. My heart goes out to all of our
boys, the ones on the pitch and the ones in the infirmary, I know they gave it
their all and we were terribly unlucky. I still believe in Milan. Yes, even
through the agony of defeat.

Our last match of the season is

Milan vs. Novara

Sunday, May 13th • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)*

*Please note the time change

This post inspired by my Angry Mix:
Rammstein, NIN, Rage Against the Machine,